Tend?

~の傾向がある is a pretty useful expression in Japanese, but "Mr. X tends to ~" is not a useful TOEFL expression. Last week, someone said:

• Customers tend to spend money.

In the context of the task, he meant: "Customers spent more money."


I think you can safely avoid "tend" on the TOEFL speaking section because this verb implies character judgment and is usually negative:

1. He tends to drink too much.
2. She tends to gossip.

In my opinion, it seems that Japanese culture encourages judgment of others, whereas American culture discourages judgment. I'd guess it's because we have a more multicultural society, but I'm not really sure.


Please use English well!